


Don't Let Go

by thekingslover



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Drowning, Ficlet, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Prompt Fill, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:54:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25786204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thekingslover/pseuds/thekingslover
Summary: Joe’s been in worse situations. None that he can think of right now, but he’s a bit pre-occupied, holding on to Nicky’s hand as he is, dangling over a sheer cliff face.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 21
Kudos: 489





	Don't Let Go

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on my nickyjoe tumblr sideblog monicashipsnickyjoe. Main blog is thekingslover
> 
> Prompt was: “As if I’m going to let go of you that easily” from [this prompt list](https://monicashipsnickyjoe.tumblr.com/post/625028790188408833)

Joe’s been in worse situations. None that he can think of _right now_ , but he’s a bit pre-occupied, holding on to Nicky’s hand as he is, dangling over a sheer cliff face. Beneath him, far below, the surf pounds against a number of very sharp rocks. 

He’s not looking forward to falling. Death still _hurts_ , even if he always comes back. 

But Nicky’s straining, barely holding on. He’s on his knees at the cliff’s edge. Some of the dirt beneath him is giving way.

“Nicky.”

“No.”

“Nicky, please.”

Nicky’s brow is lowered. His jaw clenched. Sweat glistens on his forehead, and down his arms. He’s losing his grip.

Still, he growls, “I’m not letting you go.”

“It’s me or both of us,” Joe says. Looking at Nicky, at how hard he is trying, Joe easily finds compassion to push into his voice. “It’s okay. Let go.”

“Both of us, then.”

Stubborn, wonderful man.

Joe kicks against the side of the cliff, searching for footholds, but the soil is too loose. It crumbles under his weight. He’s only succeeding in making the edge more precarious for Nicky.

“ _Nicolo_.”

“ _Yusuf.”  
_

Joe’s hand slips in Nicky’s grasp. Nicky jerks forward, reestablishing his grip but not his footing. 

He doesn’t let go as they fall. Joe holds on, too, and hopes Nicky will still be holding when he wakes up.

The last thing he sees is Nicky’s bright eyes, and then nothing.

*

It took hours for Andy and Nile to find them and fish them from the water. By then they’d each died a handful of times. By some miracle, their bodies had stayed trapped among the rocks. Despite the push and pull of the surf, they’d never slipped out into the open water.

Joe had drowned, many times, but always with Nicky in sight.

Now, they sit together in the back of a car under a mountain of blankets. Joe’s in the corner, Nicky pressed up against his side with an arm around his shoulders. Andy’s driving. Nile’s in the passenger seat.

“This is why,” Andy says very slowly, “we never go in without backup.”

Joe accepts the reprimand with a bowed head. There had been no time to wait, before, but he’s too tired to argue. At least they killed the bad guy before an explosion sent Joe flying over a cliff.

“That was the ocean,” Andy says. She’s choking the steering wheel in a white knuckled grip. “We pulled you out of the ocean.”

“I know,” Joe says, hoping she won’t say more. She doesn’t need to torture herself. “I’m sorry.”

Andy doesn’t say anything else.

After too long a pause, Nile says, “I’m glad you’re both okay,” and then turns up the radio.

Nicky’s hold tightens, drawing Joe further into him. Under the blankets, his free hand slips across Joe’s chest to his heart. He noses at Joe’s ear. Joe turns to him so their cheeks bump together.

“I didn’t thank you for saving me,” Joe tells him, speaking low.

Nicky leans into him. His forehead drops to Joe’s shoulder. “Poor job I did.”

Joe places a soft kiss to where he can reach, at the side of Nicky’s neck. “You could have let me go.”

Nicky grumbles something indecipherable, lost to Joe’s ruined t-shirt and the blankets. A moment, then he lifts his head. He curls his hand into the still-damp hairs at Joe’s nape, and says against his lips, “As if I’m going to let go of you that easily.”

Joe’s wet and tired, covered in blood and salt, but inside he’s warm. Happy. Safe.

“Don’t let go,” Joe tells him.

And Nicky promises, “Never.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading :)


End file.
